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As Henry left me alone in my cabin to plan our next move, I collapsed onto the couch opposite the blazing fire. Briefly, I considered calling Jade to explain my actions last night and beg for forgiveness. I was toying with my phone when someone pounded on my door.
“Coming!” I called out, easing onto my feet.
The pounding sounded again and irritation bloomed. “Gods, Henry. If it’s so damned important, just let yourself in per usual,” I snarled as I slammed open the door. Gaping at the seething earth witch, my mouth fell open in shock. “Jade?”
She looked disheveled, her hair hanging in loose snarls around her pink-stained cheeks as her eyes glinted dangerously. Her jeans and sweater hid most of her skin, though I could practically feel the magick vibrating off her.
“You,” she accused, stepping inside the cabin before I could move aside.
I stared agape as she spun in a circle, taking in Henry’s furnishings with a scowl.
“Figures you vampires would go all out with your ostentatious luxuries, despite this cabin sitting empty for most of the year, I don’t doubt.” She stared at the shattered glassware on the bar with a raised brow before she stomped towards the fireplace.
I crossed my arms, pushing my sweater up my arms as my body heated with incendiary emotion. All at once, it was nearly too much having her in my space. Following behind her, I cleared my throat. “Somehow, I doubt you drove all the way out here after sundown to argue with me about Henry’s design taste.”
She turned from the flames to glare at me.
“You’re right, of course. I wouldn’t have come here unless it was important.” Her body steeled as if for battle. “Genevieve, one of the Salem witches who originally comes from Romania told me the truth about the Bled talismans, along with some interesting facts regarding your exile. Tell me, Alexei. Did you shelter me within your Court all year despite killing witches for your father for decades?”
She spat the words with vitriol, but hurt shadowed her eyes.
Of all the possibilities for her fury, never did I consider my role in my father’s war on spirit witches. Few knew of Alistair’s machinations as he targeted covens around Gaia over the years, but if Jade truly understood the target painted on her family’s back after their power manifestation last year, she would have never agreed to enter my Court.
“If you wanted to know about my history, all you had to do was ask, darling,” I replied, fighting to remain calm. “And to answer your question, no, I never killed witches, but my list of crimes is as endless as it is violent. Are you sure you want to know all the gory details?”
The defensive remark came instinctively, and I immediately regretted it.
Her body shook with suppressed emotion, her silvery eyes slanted up at me as if plotting my eminent demise. “You know what? Forget I asked. I don’t know why I even bother trying to understand you, Alexei. It’s always sly humor, never the truth.”
I scoffed. “Is that what you’ve tried to do these last few months? Understand me? Because if so, your social skills could use some work. All that comes to mind are spouted insults and icy glares.”
“Don’t you dare try to turn this on me.”
Tension radiated from me as my mind drifted to a frozen forest in Slovenia, before I forced myself back to the present. I stalked closer as she walked backwards towards the wall, my crimson glare reflected in her wide eyes.
My laughter was filled with mocking anger, aimed only at myself. “You’re right. After everything I’ve said and done, I can’t blame you for believing I’m a villain. I’ve done unforgivable things, Jade. I was a fool for thinking otherwise.”
I felt magick prickle along my skin in warning—a potent reminder that Jade wasn’t a weak female to be underestimated. She didn’t toss my body across the room or hex me. Instead, she cocked her head and studied me, revealing nothing behind her sparkling eyes.
Swallowing thickly, she muttered, “When you first showed me your vault of talismans, you told me you recovered them from your father after the Bled witches were killed. Why did you never tell me that it was your father who massacred them. Or that you were involved too?”
Easing away from her, the fear that had hunted me all year finally took hold. After this reveal, Jade would never look at me the same again, but there was relief knowing this terrible secret would no longer stand between us.
“I spent two months visiting the Bled Coven as a boy and, during that time, several witches took me under their wing.” My mind drifted over the faces I had grown to love in my boyhood, so desperate for affection that I sought out outsiders. “They taught me about their wondrous spirit magick and the talismans they created, unlike any other casting I had heard of before. I wasn’t lying when I told you some of the witches voiced regrets for creating them, but only because they knew such power couldn’t be trusted with my father’s hold so close.”
Her gaze danced between mine, gauging the truth in my words. “So, you told the truth about your experiences with spirit magick? You’re not using me to further your father’s aims?”
Slow enough to let her push me away, I caged her into the wall, lifting her hand to my chest. “Use your magick to sense the truth in my words,” I ordered, relieved when her fingertips brushed against my unbeating heart. “Everything I’ve told you has been the truth. Yes, I withheld information about my true experiences with the Bled witches and my exile, but only because our partnership last November had been so tremulous. I didn’t want shadows from my past to alter your opinion of me before I could explain.”
“Then hold nothing back,” she whispered, dropping her hand back to her sides. “Why does your father hate witches, and what happened in Bled that corrupted the talismans?”
My throat bobbed painfully at the harrowing memories.
In need of liquid courage, I poured myself a glass of whiskey, offering some to Jade, who merely shook her head. I didn’t blame her for remaining wary. After downing the drink, I led her to the couch and sunk into the cushions with a sigh.
“It all started with Blanca and Vera.” I swallowed around the names that haunted my nightmares. “They were sisters. Young and beautiful. I was half in love with them, despite not reaching maturity or knowing what such a feeling meant.”
Jade’s lips curled into a weak smile despite herself. “I suppose it can’t be denied you have a thing for witches. They took you in as their protégé?”
